Getting Good: Galaga

The arrival of Space Invaders in the late 70’s spawned a whole genre of space shooters which, to the wonder of many retro gamers out there, is still very much alive to this day. After the arrival of the iconic space shooter, developers took its formula and kept building on it, creating games that played wildly different than its predecessor. Some of these games were received with great praise, while others were just regarded as novelties, the appeal of which faded shortly and their names along with it.

Some of the awesome space shooter games that were spawned thanks to Space Invaders includes arcade classics like SOS, Space Fever, Galaxian, Ozma Wars, Defender, and Scramble, among many, many others. However, one title stands out to us, in particular, for its unique mechanics and engaging, fast-paced gameplay, Galaga.

Developed and released by Namco in 1981 as a successor to the highly-successful Galaxian, Galaga is one of those space shooters which, like many other titles, are easy to get into, yet very difficult to master. Similar to Space Invaders, the game is played in a fixed screen where the main objective is to destroy wave after wave of aliens. However, unlike Space Invaders, the enemies are much more mobile and swift, and they don’t appear in formation from the beginning of the game. Instead, aliens swoop into the screen bobbing, weaving, and shooting their way into formation. Once formed, the enemies proceed to shoot the player until they are destroyed, after which other waves of aliens take their place.